Drying apparatus



mo-ModeLY I I 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.v

B. R-UGGLBS. DRYING APPARATUS.

No. 603,208. Pate' ntedAprrZ6, 1898 a Shets-Shet 2, W. B. 'RUGGLES;- DRYING APPARATUS.

(No Model.)

1101 03208. Patented Apr. 26, 1898.

\wm w I UNITED STA ES.

PATENT Prion.

WILLIAM B. RUGGLES, OF BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY.

DRYING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 603,208, dated April 26, 1898.

Application filed A t 20,1897. Serial No. 648,868. (No model.)

' To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM B. RUeeLEs, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Bayonne, in the county ofHudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drying Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention consists in certain new and useful improvements in drying apparatus, and is particularly, but not exclusively, adapted for use in drying granular material, such as grain, sand, &c.

The object of my invention is to produce a simple and inexpensive apparatus which will quickly and thoroughly dry the material fed to it and which will be strong, compact, and not'liable to get out of order or to be burned out.

To these ends, therefore, my said invention consists of two concentric shells or cylinders, one within the other, suitably supported and adapted to rotate and having arranged in the space between them buckets or material-carryingdevices, a blast or draft of hot air or heated gases directed through the inner cylinderand back through the outer cylinder or shell, and-in the details of construction and the arrangement and combination of parts, all as hereinafter more fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

In-the accompanying drawings, in the several figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of my improved drying apparatus. Fig. 2 is a section on the line a: :10, Fig.

1. Fig. 3 is a section on the line y y, Fig. 1,

looking toward the front. Fig. 4. is a top view of one set of the front supporting and retaining wheels mounted in their bearings. Fig. 5 is an end view thereof. Fig. 6 is a fragmentary end elevation of the rear head, showing a form of damper device. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a slightly-modified form of drier, showing the flue connections, a section of the furnace, and an edge view of the exhaustfan; and Fig. 8 is a fragmentary plan view of the same. a I

a is a suitable base or foundation, upon which the drier is mounted, preferably atan angle.

a are front standards supporting the stationary front head b of the apparatus, which head is provided with the hopper or chute c for the introduction of the material to be dried,-the shallow box or trough d, and the exhaust-head 6. At the opposite end of base a is mounted on suitable supports the rear stationary head f, from which depends the discharge opening orchute f, and between said front and rear heads extends the revoluble' shell or cylinder g, composed of any desired number of sections secured together and provided near each end with the annular washers g, overwhich are'secured the rings g ,which revolve within angle-iron projections 1), extending, inwardly from the two heads, and the flat rings 5 bolted to said angle-irons b. Projecting through the front head b, but not extending to the rear head f,

is an inner shell or cylinder h, rigidly attached to the outer shell g at some point (preferablyat about the middle) by arms or webs h and at other points by arms or links h hinged or pivoted to each shell and adapted to move longitudinally in either direction to allow for difference of expansion and contraction between said shells. Any other yielding connection between the shells may, however, be used, if desired.

The front end of shell h is provided with the screw conveyer 41, working in box or trough d and adapted to carry the material. fed through hopper c rearwardly into the space between the two shells, where longitudinal angle-irons jj, buckets, or other material-carrying devices affixed to the interior of shell 9 and the exteriorof shell h, together with the .pitch of the apparatus, serve to work said material to the rear head and the dischargeopening. Where the shells are composed of a plurality of sections, I prefer to have the buckets of each section break joints with those of the other sections to facilitate the carrying operation.

. Encircling the outer cylinder g are a suitable number of bearing-rings 7a, which travel on the supporting-wheels Z, of which there are preferably two sets of two each for each ring, as in Fig. 3, said wheels being journaled in webs 1', having a short central transverse shaft Z mounted loosely and free to oscillate in cradles m, secured to the base a, whereby any'irregularity in the contour of the bearing-rings will be compensated for.

lVhere but two bearing-rings 7a are used, I prefer to cast integrally with the webs 1 two bosses it, upon which are journaled the retaining-rollers n at substantially right angles to the supportin g-wheels Z and which rollers are adapted to engage the opposite sides of the front bearing-ring 7t, as shown, thereby preventing any displacement or slip of the apparatus by reason of its inclined position, or, if desired, flanged or grooved supportingwheels may be used and the retaining-rollers omitted. To the rear ring is bolted the gear-wheel o, meshing with the pinion p, mounted in suitable bearings 19' and driven by the shaft q, communicating with suitable source of power.

A circulation of heated air or gases may be maintained in the apparatus in a variety of ways and through the agency either of a blower or an exhaust-fan or the exhaust may be connected to a tall chimney. Ihave, however, shown in Figs. 7 and 8 one form of apparatus by which heat may be applied and its circulation maintained. In these figures, A represents a furnace or other source of heat, and B a fine communicating with the interior of inner shell h by the branch C and open at its opposite end. The exhaust e is connected to the exhaust-fan D, which when in operation draws the heated air and gases from furnace A and also outside air through flue B, branch 0, inner shell h, and thenceback between the two shells through the exhaust and fan and out. To regulate the admission of cold air, a damper E is placed in the open end of fine B, which damper may be operated either by hand or automatically by a thermostatic device consisting of a copper rod F, placed, preferably, in the front head 1) between the shells, and connected, as by a crank-arm F, to the shaft of the damper E.

Ordinary multiplying devices to obtain a greater movement of the damper than the mere contraction and expansion of the rod would effect may obviously be employed where desirable or necessary. The temperature of the current may also be regulated either entirely or in conjunction with the means just described by providing the rear head f, Fig. 6, with a series of perforations r and securing to said head a revoluble plate 5, having corresponding perforations s, which by turning said plate .9 may be made to more or less coincide with those in the head.

I do not wish to be limited or confined to the specific construction and details herein shown and described, as while I have illustrated and described the mechanisms which I prefer to employ in carrying out my invention it will be obvious that many changes and alterations may be made for special objects and by skilled mechanics without departing from the principle and scope of my invention. For example, the apparatus may be mounted horizontally instead of at an incline and a screw conveyer for the material be located between the shells. Again, the angle of the apparatus may be reversed, so that it will be higher at the rear than at the front, in which case a chute through the rear head will deliver the material directly to the outer shell and the short screw conveyer shown may be dispensed with. The latter construction is chiefly valuable in drying very light material, as in this case the heated current between the cylinders travels in the same direction with the material instead of against the same, as in the device shown.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a drying apparatus, an inner shell constituting a fine or passage for a heated current, mounted concentrically in and communicating at one end with an outer shell; a feed-opening leading to the space between the shells, and a discharge-opening at the opposite end, substantially as described.

2. In a drying apparatus, an inner shell communicating at one end with a source of heat and constituting a continuous flue or conduit for a heated current; an outer shell extending beyond the opposite end of the inner shell and suitably concentrically mounted thereon; an exhaust communicating with the outer shell; a feed-opening directed upon the exterior of the inner shell at one end; a discharge-opening from the outer shell at the opposite end, and means for rotating said shells, substantially as described.

3. A front and a rear stationary head, the latter having a discharge-opening; an inner shell in communication, through the front head, with a suitable source of heat, and not extending to the rear head; an outer shell extending from the rear head to the front head, suitably connected to the inner shell and communicating with a front exhaust; a feed-opening through the front head, through which the material is fed between the shells, and means for rotating the shells, substantially as described.

4:. An inner shell constituting a flue or passage for a heated current mounted by rigid and yielding braces concentrically in, and communicating at one end with an outer shell; a feed-opening between the shells, an opposite dischargebpening, and an exhaust communicating with the outer shell, substantially as described.

5. An inner shell constituting a fine or passage for a heated current; a spiral conveyor located about the exterior of the forward end of said shell an outer concentric shell mount ed upon the inner shell,and in communication with the latter at the rear thereof; a feedopening above said conveyer and a stationary box or trough below the same; an opposite discharge-opening; an exhaust communicating with the outer shell and means for rotating said shells, substantially as described.

6. A stationary front head provided with an opening, an internal box or trough below said opening, a feed-chute above the same,

and an exhaust; a rearstationary head havin g a discharge-opening, in combination with an inner shell journaled in the opening in the fronthead and having a spiral conveyer working in said box or trough; an outer shell extending from the rear head, and in communication at the rear with the inner shell, and at the front with the said exhaust; and means for rotating said shells, substantially as described.

7. A stationary front head provided with an opening; an internal box or trough below said opening, a feed-chute above the same, and an exhaust, a rear stationary head having a discharge-opening and a damper d; in combination with an inner shell journaled in WILLIAM B. RUGGLES.

Witnesses:

FREDERIC CARRAGAN, J. B. TANNER. 

